Kon Ombo, Nile Valley, Egypt

 

 

The temple at Kom-Ombo, Egypt. The boat arrived early in the morning and we were on the site for sunrise. The maze of columns and beams when viewed from below were memorable - the reason for selecting this unorthodox view.

 

Watercolour on Mounting Board



 NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Abu Simbel, Egypt

 

A short flight from Aswan in Egypt, South over the desert following the tourist trail, takes one to Abu Simbel, where some enormous stone sculpture, threatened with destruction during the creation of the Aswan Dam, were moved to safety on higher ground.

 

This sketch was made very quickly in one of the few patches of shade, close to the main entrance to the complex. As usual I was out numbered by hundreds of photographers!

 

Watercolour and Pencil on Mounting Board.

 

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

 



Nevsky Prospect, St Petersburg, Russia

 

The original pencil sketch was done in -9 deg one evening in St Petersburg. In that temperature the 10 minutes it took was almost too long without gloves. I then scanned the pencil sketch and coloured the image in photoshop, under the pencil layer in 'multiply' mode, when back home.

The light was added either under or over the drawing layer depending on the effect needed. This was a very satisfying way of getting a solidly coloured sketch quite efficiently. The second view above was done the same way. The fascination with this view was the half-frozen river channel, with snow and ice lying on it.

Pencil and Photoshop.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Battersea Power Station, Turbine Hall, London

A second drawing of Battersea Power Station - this time a view of the main turbine hall.

Watercolour on Mounting Board.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Battersea Power Station, London

This painting was made from sketches and photographs after a quick tour around Battersea Power Station courtesy of Treasury Holdings.

 

The Power Station is a fantastic building - arguably more interesting as a relic than either in its original use, or in its new form as the site is redeveloped in the years to come. 

 

Watercolour on Mounting Board.

 

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

 

Woodland

This quick sketch was drawn on a Wacom Cintiq tablet, as one of the first times I had used it. Having always worked in watercolour, building a drawing from light washes to darker shadows, and finally highlights, drawing straight into the computer, I have found that the computer allows for much more freedom in building a drawing.

However I have found that this freedom can make drawing and colouring more difficult, as the instant choice of any brush size, degree of opacity, texture and colour, when all thrown together, can quickly over-power the image. So I tend to try and restrain the palette, as in this case.

This drawing became the cover of a children's story, set in dis-orientating dense woodland.

PShop and Wacom Cintiq

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Equestrian Statue, Kremlin, Moscow

During a 48hr business trip to Moscow, I was able to visit Red Square & The Kremlin very briefly. This sketch was made at about 2am, after a dinner, in about -5 deg.

The lighting was great, with both a good moon, and a strong spotlights.

Painted in the Winsor & Newton colour - Neutral Tint over a quick pencil sketch, on HP 140lb watercolour paper.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Main Amphitheatre, Leptis Magna, Libya

Whilst working in Libya in 2009, I was able to spend a few hours at Leptis Magna, on the coast of Libya, about 2 hours from Tripoli. The project on which we had been appointed , was the development of a first phase of infrstructure to support a growth in tourism in Eastern Libya.

This site, along with two others in Libya, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and would be a principal attraction to most tourists visiting the country. The site is enormous, and some of the extant remains are stunning - its hard to now how, or where to start drawing them from to get a sense of the scale.

This viewpoint appealed because of the backdrop of the Mediterranean, and the fact that whilst drawing, it was possible to sit in the shade from this position.

Watercolour on Mounting Board

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

The View from the Rockerfeller, NY

A sunny evening enjoying the view from the bar at the top of the Rockerfeller Tower in NY. Having only made it to New York once on a flying visit for work, I did this quick sketch using a Wacom tablet in Photoshop, when i got back, using a very simple pencil sketch with a few notes scribbled on it.

Whilst I could get close to this effect in watercolour and gouache (eventually), from experience it would lack the vibrancy, and range of contrast that drawing in pure colour on a screen has.

I love the fact that images can be produced so quickly using a stylus and tablet - with a full range of colour. I am waiting for a truly usable, portable solution so that its possible to draw in this medium from life, and not from a desk, but I've yet to find it.

Wacom Cintiq and PShop.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Borough Market, London SE1

A drawing of the interior of Borough Market before the alterations that have been recently completed.

The roof was usefully translucent, and the open space between the market pitch cages allowed for a long enough foreground to let the watercolour run freely, and hint at reflections.

The picture relies on the strength of the contrast between the silhouetted entrance to the 'shed' set against the sunlit buildings beyond.

Watercolour on Mounting Board.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Archway, Prague

A second sketch from Prague. Rather ran out of room at the edge of the board on this drawing as I would have preferred more width to fully include the right-hand gatehouse, and more height to better enclose the head of the arch. I also couldn't contrive any greenery in the foreground to balance the ivy-clad wall visible in the distance, which would also have helped.

I find working on the Daler Rowney Mounting Boards very easy - they support themselves to lean on when cut into A4-A5 peices and they are light to carry and don't need stretching. They also come coloured in various cream and stone colours, and have a surface on them not dissimilar to a Hot-Pressed finish on a watercolour paper. The only disadvantage is that the paper surface is not resilient to any rubbing.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

Main Square & Cathedral, Prague

This watercolour sketch was drawn in an uncomfortably prominent position within one of the main squares in Prague. A very hot day, the paint was drying very quickly, and I therefore was able to paint on site without having to wait the 30 minutes for the washes to dry.

It was painted over a fast pencil sketch on Daler Rowney Cream COloured Mounting Board.

NH  www.nickhirst.co.uk

Building a Watercolour Perspective

Building a Traditional Watercolour - (5 stages)

 

This sequence of five drawings will hopefully show how a traditional watercolour can be built up. Apologies for the colour variation in the sequence as the photographs were taken in a different light.

 

The drawing is an aerial study of a new extension to a Listed Hospice Building in Clapham, which has since been completed. The purpose of the drawing was to set the new proposed extension into the the established landscape and demonstrate the sympathetic relationship between the new building, and the existing structures.

 

This viewpoint was selected because the green roof in the central part of the wing roof planes could be used to reduce the apparent width of the new element from this viewpoint.

 

Painted on 140lb Bockingford.

 

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk

 



Stage (1) - Basic Drawing

Stage (2) - First Washes

Stage (3) - Heavier Washes

Stage (4) - Architectural Detail & Colour Balancing

Stage (5) - Final Details, Shadows & Highlights

Midland Hotel, King's Cross, London

A romanticised drawing of the Midland Hotel, King's Cross, London. This building has been recently refurbished, and is now once again functioning as a hotel.

This was originally a pencil sketch, digitally scanned, and coloured very loosely in photoshop. It was one of 25 images assembled into a children's illustrated story.

Photoshop used in combination with a WACOM Cintiq tablet is a great tool for editing and colouring sketches - the resulting images have the energy of a hand drawing, but the vividness of digital colour. Highlights are much easier than painstakingly adding them to traditional watercolours in gouache.

NH www.nickhirst.co.uk